Paluel nuclear power plant
Paluel nuclear power plant is a nuclear power station in France with 4 operating units totalling 5,528 MW gross. The site has 4 units on record in total.
Units
| Unit | Status | Type | Model | Gross MW | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | PWR | P4 REP 1300 | 1,382 | 1985 | |
| Unit 2 | PWR | P4 REP 1300 | 1,382 | 1985 | |
| Unit 3 | PWR | P4 REP 1300 | 1,382 | 1986 | |
| Unit 4 | PWR | P4 REP 1300 | 1,382 | 1986 |
Unit by unit
Each unit's rating, type and milestone dates as recorded by the Global Nuclear Power Tracker, with any correction we made to it. A dash or "not disclosed" means the source does not give the value.
Paluel nuclear power plant 1
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | P4 1300 MWe series |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,382MW |
| Net capacity | 1,330MW |
| Thermal output | 3,817MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | Framatome |
| Owner | Electricité de France SA100% |
| Operator | Electricité de France |
| Construction start | 15 Aug 1977 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 13 May 1984 |
| Grid connection | 22 Jun 1984 |
| Commercial operation | 1 Dec 1985 |
Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Paluel nuclear power plant 1
Paluel nuclear power plant 2
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | P4 1300 MWe series |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,382MW |
| Net capacity | 1,330MW |
| Thermal output | 3,817MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | Framatome |
| Owner | Electricité de France SA100% |
| Operator | Electricité de France |
| Construction start | 1 Jan 1978 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 11 Aug 1984 |
| Grid connection | 14 Sep 1984 |
| Commercial operation | 1 Dec 1985 |
Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Paluel nuclear power plant 2
Paluel nuclear power plant 3
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | P4 1300 MWe series |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,382MW |
| Net capacity | 1,330MW |
| Thermal output | 3,817MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | Framatome |
| Owner | Electricité de France SA100% |
| Operator | Electricité de France |
| Construction start | 1 Feb 1979 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 7 Aug 1985 |
| Grid connection | 30 Sep 1985 |
| Commercial operation | 1 Feb 1986 |
Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Paluel nuclear power plant 3
Paluel nuclear power plant 4
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | P4 1300 MWe series |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,382MW |
| Net capacity | 1,330MW |
| Thermal output | 3,817MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | Framatome |
| Owner | Electricité de France SA100% |
| Operator | Electricité de France |
| Construction start | 1 Feb 1980 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 29 Mar 1986 |
| Grid connection | 11 Apr 1986 |
| Commercial operation | 1 Jun 1986 |
Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Paluel nuclear power plant 4
Paluel nuclear power plant in context
By gross operating capacity Paluel nuclear power plant is the 2nd largest of 18 operating nuclear sites in France, holding 8% of the country's operating capacity, and ranks 11th of 172 worldwide.
Its operating units started up between 1985 and 1986; the median unit is 40.5 years old, younger than the median of 41.0 in France.
The 4 units with both construction and grid dates on record took 6.2 to 6.9 years (median 6.7) from construction start to grid connection; the median across all reactors connected in the 1980s is 7.3 years.
The nearest other tracked nuclear sites are Penly nuclear power plant (43 km), Gravelines nuclear power plant (167 km) and Flamanville nuclear power plant (185 km).
Build time by unit
| Unit | Construction start | Grid connection | Years | Fleet median, same decade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | 1977 | 1984 | 6.9 | 7.3 (1980s) |
| Unit 2 | 1978 | 1984 | 6.7 | 7.3 (1980s) |
| Unit 3 | 1979 | 1985 | 6.7 | 7.3 (1980s) |
| Unit 4 | 1980 | 1986 | 6.2 | 7.3 (1980s) |
Nearest tracked nuclear sites
| Site | Country | Distance | Operating GW gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penly nuclear power plant | France | 43 km | 2.8 |
| Gravelines nuclear power plant | France | 167 km | 5.7 |
| Flamanville nuclear power plant | France | 185 km | 4.4 |
How these are worked out: ranks use gross operating capacity; ages count from the start-up year on record, as on the age page; build times run from construction start to grid connection, as on the build-times page; ratings are the tracker's net and design net capacity, as on the uprates page. Distances are straight-line between exact positions, so a site with only an approximate position gets none. A unit missing a date or a rating is left out of the figure that needs it.
Earthquakes nearby
Loading the latest USGS check…
| Time (UTC) | Mag | Depth | Epicentre | Distance |
|---|
Magnitude 4.0 and above within 200 km of Paluel nuclear power plant's listed coordinates, past 30 days. This is distance, not shaking: it says nothing about damage or any change in operation. Every plant.
| Location | Normandie, France |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 49.8582, 0.6354 |
| Elevation | about 35 mabove sea level |
| Setting | On the sea coast, 0.9 km from the water |
| Region | Western Europe |
| Units by status | Operating: 4 |
Elevation is read at the listed coordinates from a 30 m terrain model (SRTM 30 m). Two independent models differ by a median of 6 m across our plants and by up to about 40 m on steep or coastal ground, and a point on a shoreline can read as sea level. Distance to the water is measured to a generalised 1:10 million coastline, so a few kilometres or less is not resolved. This is context, not a design-basis or flood-risk figure.
| Owners | Electricité de France SA |
|---|---|
| Operators | Electricité de France |
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Sources
- Global Nuclear Power Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, August 2026 release , CC BY 4.0 · retrieved 2026-09-06
- GEM.wiki entry (further reading) , CC BY-SA 4.0, linked, not quoted
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data